The Sinners Game
by BelovedShadow
Summary: Some people were here for the challenge, some people were here for the fame. Sasuke was here for the money, but he stumbles upon someone who becomes worth much more to him than any material prize. SasuNaru YAOI
1. Why The Player Plays

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Seriously. Nothing. **

**Warning: This is SasuNaru yaoi, and will include lemons in the future. Don't like don't read. **

**A/N: I know what you're thinking, readers. You don't even have to say it. Another chapter fic to be stressing over is exactly what I DON'T need right now, right? I know. Read it anyway. **

**Enjoy!**

Sleep was impossible. If not for the sound of water, as it dripped rhythmically into one of the several buckets that were spread throughout the house, or the shrill blaring of police sirens speeding down the street- then certainly it was the painful rasp of coughing. It was a wheezing, wet cough. One that Sasuke knew had resulted in the release of blood. The coughing was the worst. It seemed to taunt the young Uchiha as he tried to sleep, it was clearly audible through the paper thin walls that separated his mother's room from the living room, and bit by bit, with every intake of choked breath, Sasuke could feel himself going insane.

Death. He was surrounded by death. He heard a ruffling noise from the couch to his left, and was suddenly aware that Mikoto's coughing had woken Itachi. Lovely. As if tonight wasn't bad enough.

Sasuke opened his eyes and saw Itachi sitting up, trying to struggle to his feet. With lightning speed, the younger brother was at the elder's side, catching the taller teen's crippling body before it could collapse to the floor.

"Lay back down, Nii-San. Just go back to sleep if you can."

Itachi frowned, not liking to be in a position that required him to lean on his little brother. Still, Sasuke was only trying to help. It was unfair to be upset by that. "Otouto… Okaasan, she needs…"

"I'll go to her in a moment, here let me get you back on the couch."

Sasuke maneuvered himself so that Itachi could lean on him more comfortably, but upon reaching the couch, he discovered a large spot of cool wetness. He looked upwards, and surely enough saw that the leak had traveled over to this part of the living room.

"You know what, Nii-San? My back sort of hurts, would you mind sleeping with Okaasan so that I can have the couch?"

Itachi gave a weak smile, and agreed that he didn't mind. In truth, he was elated to be able to do such a small service to his brother. It wasn't fair that Sasuke had to take such good care of everyone without ever getting a reward anyway, and it was rare for the young teen to ever ask for anything in return. In fact, he'd _never _asked for anything in return.

When Sasuke had Itachi safely secured in bed with their mother, he let out a relieved sigh, then went to get her some warm tea. He had to grind her medicine up into the tea in order to get her to take it, and it still didn't seem to be doing much good. She had to go back to the factories every day, just to afford the mortgage on this shitty leaking house. There she inhaled all sorts of debris and fumes that kept her coughing all through the night. Itachi was even worse.

When they were both situated and back to sleep, Sasuke got to work on trying to dry the couch before bacteria took advantage of the dampness. The last thing he needed was more shit for his mother to be breathing in every day.

By the time the couch was dry and positioned to a place where it wouldn't get soaked again, and all the buckets were poured out and changed, and the kitchen was cleaned, Sasuke was ready to go back to sleep. So, of course, it was four in the morning. Time to make breakfast for his mother, she had to be at work by six, and her job was an hour away _driving, _but she had to take a two busses and a train.

Sasuke quickly took out some pancake batter that he'd refrigerated earlier and put oil to a pan, frying up some eggs and bacon along with the pancakes. In only a few moments, he heard the sound of the shower coming on. Ten minutes after that, Mikoto was rushing into the kitchen and quickly scarfing down her breakfast. She placed a quick peck on Sasuke's cheek then rushed towards the door.

"Have a great day dear! Don't forget to move the radio close to Itachi so he can listen in, and today's the twenty-third, so –"

"Nii-San has his monthly appointment with the doctor. Don't worry about coming home yourself. I'll take him."

Mikoto smiled. "I couldn't have asked for better sons. I love you. See you tonight!"

"See you."

With that she left, and Sasuke got started on Itachi's breakfast. It would have to be much more simple and gentle on the throat than Mikoto's, they both had a coughing issue, but Itachi had a legitimate disease. Even on the best of days, his teeth were stained pink from coughing up so much blood.

That day, Itachi was served poached eggs, and maple sugar oatmeal. He ate it without complaint, and smiled when his brother brought the radio over to him. Sasuke flicked the dial on, and adjusted it to Itachi's favourite station. It broadcasted current events all day, and helped the elder Uchiha brother to feel like he wasn't as out of touch with the world. The end of an add about Tofu that tasted like pigs feet was just ending, and Sasuke sat next to his brother and listened to the morning news.

"_What would you do with one million yen? What would you do if I told you that all you had to do for it was relax on an island with one thousand other people? May I present: The Winners Game! The easiest game you ever played! To sign up, just grab your nearest computer and send an email to i_want_to_win_a_million_yen [dot] yahoo [dot] co [dot] jp! You could be a winner in only thirty-"_

Itachi snorted, and reached for the dial himself, shutting the radio off. Sasuke raised a curious eyebrow.

"That sounded kind of easy, huh? Sit on an island for a while with a few harmless strangers, and get a million yen."

Itachi rolled his eyes. "The _winners _game... They should call it the _sinners _game. If you expect that much money out of it, you won't come out untainted."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, somewhat put off that his brother was so hasty to doubt what seemed like a pretty legitimate get-rich-quick scheme. Not that a million yen was really _rich, _but it would certainly increase the way they were living _now. _

"Every couple years or so, they have ads for that stupid game. I've taken the time to read the fine print. You see, the trick of it isn't that you have to _live _with those other people, it's that you have to make them _disappear_. Every day for thirty days, three yachts pull up to the island, that's enough room to take everyone back to wherever they came from. But that's just the thing, at the end of the thirty days, whoever's left on the island splits the million yen. Now, you can see the error from there, Otouto. A million yen split up between a thousand people is barely enough for dinner and a movie. The _real _game, is in making sure that you get as many people dead or off of that island before the month is over, because every less person still there with you, is one less share that you have to give."

Now it was Sasuke's turn to frown. "That's sick. Besides, no one would be stupid enough to willingly climb aboard a yacht that would take them away from the money."

Itachi only shrugged. "You say _willingly _like it matters. Kill if you have to. Tie someone up and force them onto the damn boat if you have to. Do whatever it takes, to _win _the stupid fucking _winners game, _right?"

Sasuke had to think about that. Would he kill or injure nine hundred ninety nine other people if it meant his mother never had to work another day in her life? If it meant he could pay for Itachi to have the treatment he really _needed_, instead of the only crappy doctor they could afford? He couldn't honestly say that he wouldn't do it. Which is why later that day, when he took Itachi to the hospital, he logged on to one of the service computers in the waiting room. And he sent an email.

**A/N: So, what are you thinking of this so far? Hopefully I've captured your attention. I was gonna take the time to convert the money, so that you guys know how much money a million yen would be in your respective countries, but you're on the internet already, so just Google it yourself xD **

**Please bless me with a review telling me what you think! Sorry this chapter is so short, I'll try for longer ones in the future! **

**I love all the readers! **

**-Beloved**


	2. Dealing Out the Deck

**A/N: It's short. Oh well. I'm sleepy. My wife's sleepy. It's bed time around here, and this bit is done, and you've reviewed like good little readers so take it. **

**Enjoy**

"Have you ever had a near death experience, Naruto-Kun?"

The blond frowned, and looked down at his feet. A near death experience? Hmm.. "Not that I can consciously remember." He answered, offering a meek smile.

The lady interviewing him smiled back for a moment, but it was instantly gone. It wasn't a real smile. It was the kind that people get for only a few seconds because they feel like they _have _to smile. Naruto himself was an expert at smiles and smiling, so he was sure that his conclusions were correct – this woman wasn't kind at all.

"Do you believe that one life can be more valuable than another?"

Naruto shrugged. "Not to me, but I understand why other people think that way. I mean, if a political leader dies, then a country can fall into chaos. But really, I try to treat everyone the same way, you know?"

She snorted to herself and scribbled a note on her clipboard before looking up again and offering another unauthentic smile.

"So then, what's the worst thing you've ever done to anyone else?"

"Uh, I kind of try to be _nice _to people."

"I see." She taunted disbelievingly.

For a moment, Naruto wanted to say that the worst thing he'd done to anyone else was the time he was getting questioned by an annoying interviewer and he was struck with the impulse to smack her across the face. But, he wouldn't say that. He really _was _a nice guy; and even if this woman was a total asshole, he had his reasons for being here and she wasn't going to get in the way of that.

"If you had to choose between your life and the life of a total stranger, who would you allow to live?"

Now the boy smiled. "No such thing as a total stranger! I can take _one _look at someone and tell if they're a good person right away! Seriously! It's a gift! So, I guess if it looks like they're a better person than _I _am, I'd let 'em live. Right? Because the world would be full of good people. If everyone thought that way."

The woman gave Naruto an incredulous glare, and scribbled on her clipboard some more.

"Okay, that's it for the opinionated questions. Now I have to ask you some stuff for legal purposes, okay?"

Naruto nodded, wondering why he was being asked so many questions that seemed completely unrelated to his reason for being here. He'd already been through stuff like his favourite way to spend his time, his likes and dislikes, things that annoyed him, and the like. All to see if he qualified for a silly game? What the hell was this about anyway?

"Are you eighteen or older?"

He chuckled bashfully and scratched at the back of his head. "Uhhh… I'll be eighteen in October!"

The woman wasn't amused. "It's November _now._"

"Yeah, well, I'm not eighteen."

She seemed to think that over for a moment, before Naruto could have sworn that he could make out the words: _nineteen years of age _appearing on her clipboard papers.

"Are you chronically allergic to anything?"

"Nope!"

She nodded. "Well, Naruto-Kun – you're definitely going to be a contestant. You can go on and get the next person, now."

Naruto nodded, and rose. He opened the door and only got one peek of the dark-haired boy in the waiting room before the woman called out to him again.

"Yes?"

"Just for my own curiosity, I have another question."

"Go on."

"You're… not the typical player of this particular game."

"Yeah, I noticed." Naruto commented, thinking of the depressed yet somehow desperate and determined look that he'd spied on the face of that boy in the waiting room. Most people heard of _The Winning Game _on the radio, or TV, and came because they needed the money. That was ridiculous to Naruto. A million yen was barely anything long-term. It wouldn't solve any actual financial issue unless it was invested excruciatingly wisely.

If not for the money, people hoped for success with their career. The last two winners of the game had gotten jobs as cut-throat corporate lawyers. Although, it did seem a bit odd that winning a silly little game got you more creditability as a sneaky money-grubbing bastard than a college degree – Naruto never thought to question it.

Everyone had their reasons.

"So," The woman continued. "Why are _you _playing?"

**XxBxExLxOxVxExDxX**

The bus ride back home was cold. It was as if even the government knew that people living in this area of japan were too poor to complain. The damn thing had more windows _missing _than actual windows in _place. _Sasuke sighed, and yanked his coat closer around himself.

After he exited the bus, Sasuke walked to his house. It was a long-ish walk, nearly a full forty five minutes, but he was so used to it that he barely felt the cold air whipping against his face. He was lost in thought. He'd been accepted as a player. After the world's strangest interview with some icy bitch that he hoped he never had to see again, he'd been accepted.

She'd seemed a little shaky about his age, but he knew she'd probably just lie about it. They were clearly having to do a little cradle-robbing this year in order to get a full thousand people. Most civilians who were poor enough to be desperate for the money couldn't afford to miss work for a full month over a one in a thousand chance at success. But Sasuke was playing to _win. _That's why it was called _The Winning Game _after all, right? He had to win the game. There was no alternative option. Itachi was sicker and sicker with every passing minute, and Mikoto wasn't exactly in the best of shape, either. Although she wasn't even one tenth as bad as Itachi was.

Sasuke frowned, as he opened his front door. He could hear the familiar tune of _Kidnap The Sandy Claws _from _The Nightmare Before Christmas. _Oh, right. It was getting into the holiday season. Actually… two days ago was thanksgiving, huh? Whatever. It wasn't like they could ever afford that much food anyway.

In the process of taking off his shoes, Sasuke was glomped by his mother. He laughed lightly, and shrugged her off of him.

"You're home early, Okaasan. It's good to see you."

She frowned. "I was so worried! I'm not early, you're _late_! It's nearly midnight!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. That wasn't possible… he'd had an appointment with the interviewer at eight… he'd timed it perfectly to be home before his mother returned at eleven. Oh. He quickly realized the error. That blonde kid. His interview had run overtime. That guy clearly wasn't too mindful of other people's needs…

"Otouto?"

Sasuke took a deep breath as he heard the radio clicking off. He smiled apologetically at his mother before rushing to Itachi's side, fearing that if he wasn't fast enough the elder would try to get up.

"Hey, Nii-San."

"Where have you been all day?" Itachi asked tiredly.

"I uh… I went to sign up. I'm gonna be in that winners game thing. You know, the one you called the sinners game?"

If Itachi looked bad before, he doubled on the spot. For a moment his mouth hung open and his eyes widened, but then his lips pressed firmly together, and he gave Sasuke a long hard stare. Only two emotions were visible in those eyes: fear, and disappointment.

"Don't look at me like that, Itachi. I'm gonna _win. _And I won't kill anyone, okay?"

"Oh? And has everyone else also promised not to kill _you_?"

"Well what the hell else am I supposed to do, Itachi? _You're_ withering away like a dead tree, Okaasan can't even _breath _through the night, much less sleep! The roof over our heads keeps out about as much rain as a collider, and I'm not of legal working age. So _what? _What's _your _grand plan? Obviously you're against _mine._" Sasuke hissed.

"Even dead trees can stand, Otouto. At least I'm stable enough to accept what life's given to me. You're leaving Okaasan and myself here alone for a month for _money_? You've done fine taking care of us up till now, and leaving us here without you isn't going to help anything. If you come back with all the money in the world, the foundation will already have crumpled without you. You're a part of this family, Sasuke – and that comes with a lot of responsibility. I may be sick, and I may be weak, but my mind is well, and I'm telling you right now that yours is not."

"You two can survive for thirty days! Okaasan can take that time off of work, I'll get back with enough money for her to afford it."

"So we're gambling _your life_ with money we don't _have _in order to gain money that we don't _need._" Itachi replied, raising an eyebrow.

"We're gambling _my _life for _your _life you asshole, I'd think you'd be more pleased!"

"I'm not. If you do this, everything that we're barely holding on to now will fall apart before you even begin to grasp _how_ to pick up the pieces. And what then? How is that fair to-"

"Itachi… let him go." Mikoto cut in.

And so it was decided.

Sasuke would play the game.

**A/N: Review? Please? You've earned this chapter. Earn the next! **

**Love you guys! **

**-Beloved**


	3. Advance Your Piece To Go

**A/N: Sorry that it's been a while since I updated this! I really like this fic, and it writes well. However, my computer decided to delete everything. I mean EVERYTHING. So, this chapter (and the chapters of my other fics if you read them) has been much delayed. Rewriting things sucks, and I hope I'm worth a little of your sympathy as I try and get my updates sorted over the next couple weeks. **

**Enjoy! **

For once, the sun was almost blindingly bright as Sasuke made his way down the street. He was glad that it wasn't raining, but fearful of the shining heated sky because of his skin. It was pale and sensitive to light. Still, he had to be out in it. The _Winners Game _began tomorrow, and for some reason Sasuke had instinctively felt that he should check his family's mail box down at the post office one last time before leaving. Itachi wouldn't be strong enough to come do it, and Mikoto was sure not to remember.

The post office was a relatively short walk from their home, and Sasuke actually found it to be somewhat refreshing. As he approached the old dusty building, his optimism faded to malcontent and he breathed in what he knew must have been toxic air, but that was fine. Everything in this area was unsanitary in some way – and the air was rarely an exception.

"What's a little street rat like you doing around here? Go home! There's no mail coming in today!"

Sasuke offered a slight frown to the bony woman serving at the desk of the post office as he walked in. She was berating a young boy that couldn't have been more than thirteen years old.

"Please, ma'am. I've got to get into my mailbox, I'll be away for the next month, this is my last chance to open it!" The child pleaded. Sasuke felt his eyes widen in horror. There was no way that this little boy was going to be away for the same reason _he _was, right? You were supposed to be eighteen to play the game! True, he himself wasn't quite at that age, but he wasn't nearly so far off as this little runt. Oh well. It was none of his business if the boy wanted to throw his life away. They all had their reasons; and he wasn't one to judge.

He took advantage of their argument and slipped stealthily past the woman, side stepping over to his own mailbox and opening it with the key he kept in his sock. Bills, bills, and a couple more bills. Lovely. They hadn't started coming in red colored font yet, so he tossed them aside; deciding that he'd pay them when he got back. There were two more envelopes there. One of which Sasuke glanced briefly at – but noticing the return address ripped to shreds in a huff of impulsive anger without opening.

He caught his breath, and glared down at the small confetti-like mess, then trained his gaze to the last letter. It was addressed to him, rather than his mother, and had no return address. But, that wasn't the strangest thing about it. It was _heavy. _Not heavy in comparison to something else that one would pick up – but certainly more heavy than the average letter. Sasuke opened it and pulled out a note.

_Sasuke Uchiha – _

_Congratulations in being accepted to play. Your first challenge begins now. Enclosed in this envelope, you will find a moderately sized nugget of twenty-four karat gold. It will be imperative to your game play, and you WILL lose without it; so make sure not to misplace it between today and the start of the game._

_Good luck! _

It wasn't signed. Sasuke shook out the envelope into his hands and his eyes widened as he spotted the gold. It was truly a test. He could, obviously, just sell this nugget of gold instead of winning the game – but that wouldn't give him nearly as much money. They were trying to see if he would settle for less, or really take a chance. Clever. He pocketed the gold and made his way back home – leaving the shredded letter that had infuriated him on the ground. Someone else could try and piece it back together and read it if they so desired. He himself would do no such thing.

He walked slowly back home, taking his time and thinking about the pros and cons of the gold in his pocket. Deciding that since they knew his address anyway it would just be _too _foolish, he chose to hold on to it and just play for the big-bucks. After all, he was _sure _to win.

**XxBxExLxOxVxExDxX**

"So, how much is it worth?" Naruto asked, staring calmly into the overly excited eyes of the breakable-looking old man sitting in front of him.

"Where did you _find _it?" The man asked anxiously, squealing like an over-excited teenage girl as he examined the dark stone in his hand.

"That's none of your business," Naruto sighed out, starting to get frustrated. "Can I get more than a million yen for it?"

The man looked as if he was about ready to spit. "A million ye- boy are you insane? This is a _black diamond_! You could get double that from a _pawn shop_ for it!"

Naruto shrugged, easily plucking the small shimmering gem out of the man's eager hands and slipping it back into the envelope it'd come in. "Well then, I suppose it's worth keeping, huh?"

The man was staring at the envelope almost lustfully. "My boy, if I had one of _those, _I'd bury myself with it."

At this Naruto released a hearty guffaw. How ironic a thought that was. Burying oneself with a black diamond. However, humorous as it may be – it was an omen to be taken seriously. This game was clearly about so much more than the money; or else why would they give for free something that appraised for double the winnings? It made no sense at all, which was exactly why Naruto was determined to go along with it anyway. He had a thought in the back of his mind that he was risking his life for much more than a measly chunk of cash, and this diamond proved it.

He stepped out of the jewelers after gazing at the stone again. A black diamond… he hadn't even recognized it as something so magnificent when he'd received it. It was dark and beautiful, in a way so abstract that he never wanted to take his eyes off of it. So dark, so bright. It was a very mysterious stone, but Naruto had no time to think on it. The game started in only forty minutes, and he was twenty minutes away from the yacht that would take him to the island. That left him with no time to go home and prepare, but that was sort of a relief. Whether he won or not, he would never return to that apartment again.

**XxBxExLxOxVxExDxX**

It took Sasuke a full ten minutes of standing awkwardly at the beach after arriving to realize the significance of the nugget of gold. He saw other people standing around awkwardly as well, and almost smirked at the fact that he'd already figured it out. As he studied the sand, he could see little flecks of color that twisted and turned in an elaborate path. Some red, some black, some blue, some purple, some pink, and some gold. He followed the little golden flecks into the forest – fully aware of a few people looking after him like he was insane. It wasn't until he reached a house covered entirely in gold paint that he realized he could easily have sold the nugget so long as he remembered what it was. Oh well. He still had it in his pocket, so he could sell it afterwards if he wanted.

He opened the door and walked into the house, seeing that contrary to his belief, three people had in fact discovered the connection between the coloring and the mail before him. They were spaced out carefully, as if engaged in a mental war – and the tension only increased as Sasuke stepped into the room.

Three sets of eyes – all so different that it was almost mindboggling to see them together – were staring curiously up at him. One pair was a pale lavender that was almost _white. _One pair was a light sea-foam color that seemed unable to decide whether it wanted to be blue or green, and the last was a dark brown. Nowhere close to his own obsidian, but certainly darker than most.

They were all men, and judging by their physique they weren't much older than he was. He could tell by the calm tension radiating through them that they were all aware of how the game really worked. If they didn't kill each other, they wouldn't get the money. Well… this was certainly on Sasuke's top ten list of awkward situations.

"I think," Began the lavender eyed boy, "That it would be unwise for us to face this challenge alone."

A slow careful nod was given by the other three in the room, then the dark eyed one began to speak. He was seated comfortably on the couch – which suggested he was the first to discover the gold flecks.

"Judging by the amount of bedrooms, we will be living in houses of ten. If we work on eliminating the other nine hundred and ninety people first, then we'll have much more time to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of each other; and we can fight between ourselves _then._ Shall we call a temporary truce?"

Sasuke agreed with a nod of the head, and let out a relieved sigh as the other boys in the room also confirmed the truce. It wasn't legally binding, but he had nothing else to trust – and since they made it here before him, he had to assume that they were intelligent enough to know better than backing down on their word in a life or death situation.

The door opened again, and a fifth person entered, sword held out in front of him as if he was ready for combat. They quickly entered him into their truce, and did the same with two more people who made their way to the gold house. Now, they were only missing three more, but it was getting rather late.

As the door opened again, they looked up and immediately felt a new sort of tension building in the air. It was a girl. The first girl to have stepped in. Of course, none of them were sexist, so it wasn't that they hadn't considered a girl as a possibility – it was just that living for a month in a house full of seven teenage boys and one girl was going to prove very interesting. Sasuke almost chuckled as he watched the drool shamelessly trickle down one of his house-mates chin, as the boy shamelessly regarded the newcomers breasts. She didn't seem to notice.

"Um… I'm Hinata." She spoke softly, and as her words hung awkwardly in the air, Sasuke realized that no one else had bothered to introduce themselves.

"I'm Kiba." The one who was drooling like a dog was the first to speak, which surprised no one. Sasuke checked around and saw that there wasn't anybody particularly anxious to speak, so he went next.

"I'm Sasuke. It's nice to meet you, Hinata." He smiled softly at her, offering the small ounce of charm that he turned on when money was low and he had to panhandle rich women for food.

They were encouraged by Sasuke's kindness, and one by one Hinata learned the names of: Gaara, Lee, and Sai. The group looked expectantly at the boy with the white eyes, but he said nothing. He gave the new girl a cold and calculating stare before turning his back to her and facing the others.

"I'm Neji." He said icily, before turning to the new girl. "And _we _need to talk." With that, he dragged her out by her arm, earning a frustrated huff from Kiba.

"Pretty boy stakes his claim on the chick? No fair!" The dog-ish teen said in annoyance, slouching into the couch and sulking to himself.

Gaara eyed him for a moment, with a look that seemed to say _'Please tell me you're not this stupid,' _and then spoke quietly. "In seeing their uncanny resemblance to one another, I'm willing to bet that there is more to that exchange than meets the eye." He said, before resting his eyes on the window. "And unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, we're about to have a bit more female company anyway."

It was true, only a moment later the door opened to reveal two average-looking women. They smiled and introduced themselves as Ino and Sakura, then accepted the offered names from everyone who was still in the room, taking particular interest in Sasuke – though the raven tried desperately to ignore both of them. They agreed to the truce without a second thought, and announced that they'd been looking for the house for ages and had thoroughly worn themselves out.

"It _has _been quite the day," Sasuke agreed, stretching slightly to himself. "Now that we're all here and agreed not to stab each other in our sleep, I think it's time for some rest."

One by one, they exited the foyer and found bedrooms. It was sort of an unspoken rule that the people who found the place first had first dibs on bedding, so Sasuke ended up with a very nice room. Sakura had creepily followed him there and proclaimed it to be average – but Sasuke was looking at it from the point of view of someone who'd never in his life owned his own _bed _much less a room to put it in, so it was quite the luxurious retreat in his eyes. After ridding himself of the pink-haired menace, he flopped down comfortably on his bed and found himself getting the best sleep of a lifetime. His dreams were laced with gold.

**A/N: Did you like this chapter? I hope so! Still sort of getting the plot set out for you before I dive into it, but I hope you're enjoying the climb and trusting that the mountain-top view will be worth it when we reach the top xD **

**PLEASE review! **

**I love you for reading either way! **

**-Beloved**


	4. Let the Games Begin

Waking up to the sound of gunshots isn't something that a person will ever get used to. Even when Sasuke lived in the worst of the _worst _of neighborhoods, it always scared the shit out of him. Now, it was just about right next to his head, and it was so very real that he knew he couldn't go back to sleep afterwords.

Usually, if someone is accustomed to being woken by gunshots, they are at least comforted somewhat by the knowledge that no one is shooting directly _at _them. But this was Sasuke's third day of the game, so the possibility that he was being shot at was already something that he'd accepted as palpable. When you're living alone on an island with some hundreds of people who know that if they don't kill you, they'll be less rich – gunshots are even scarier than normal.

So Sasuke took a walk.

His walk was meant to be fairly brief. (After all there _was _someone out here with a gun!) but it somehow ended up being a bit of a long journey through the less inhabited parts of the island. He saw pieces of trees that had been cut down, and huge plants, some of which just _had _to be poisonous. He rolled his eyes at that. It just _figures _that the island itself would want you do die...

He heaved a heavy sigh and tried his very best not to step in anything that looked too suspicious or too _not _suspicious. Eventually, he came upon a bit of a path. This wasn't the kind of path like when he got here that covered the already present earth with something foreign. This was a path that Sasuke could tell had been there for nearly as long as the island itself. It probably wasn't even meant to be a part of this game. How could it have been? They just used a secluded island, didn't they? Surely they wouldn't _construct _a demonic location just _for _this game, right?

He couldn't be sure, so he didn't touch the friendly looking trail, instead he walked along side it, just in case it was booby trapped.

One thing that he did notice quite immediately was that their house had some very close neighbors. There were three of the large homes nearby. One red, one purple, and one black. Sasuke was strangely drawn to the black one, so he wandered towards it, but didn't see what he'd expected. The feeling he'd had sort of made him think that there was something undoubtedly _good _for him in this house – but what he saw was a corpse on the front porch. A corpse that had been shot. Fuck.

Maybe everyone in the house was too scared to come out and see what happened. The way it _looked _was that this dude had literally just stepped out of the front door and been shot in the face. But there were no rules saying you couldn't bring guns here. No, no. There were no rules at all in _The Winners Game. _All you had to do was win. Sasuke was almost certain that there were hidden cameras all over the damn island, and somewhere in the world a group of sadists would just sit and watch all day.

The corpse looked so gross that Sasuke was pretty sure it had been half dead even before it was shot. His skin was pale white and he had weird purple make-up going across his eyes. His hair was long and black and weird looking. Not quite dry. Not quite greasy. Not quite healthy. Just long and black and _there. _

Sasuke was carefully examining the surrounding area to see if he could find out where the killer had gone, but he didn't see anything that looked like a sure win. Then again... he studied the positioning of the houses more carefully. Hmmm... if he was living in the red house, and pointing the right kind of gun out of the window. He could _easily _murder someone on this porch. Yep! Sounded about like the perfect time to get _off _of this porch!

Sasuke sprinted clear out of view from the red house, only barely managing to recall how to get back to _his _house from there. And on that note, he wondered if he could really think of the gold house as _his _house. Was that his house more than the rickety rooftop home of old that he'd grown up in? Nah. His home was with his mother, and with Itachi. No matter how many houses he painted with pure gold, that wouldn't change. Nothing would change that.

_Then why are you here? _A voice inside of his head asked. And he almost listened to it and boarded that yacht. Almost. Instead he was distracted from his mental "woe is me" moment, by a loud desperate wailing that seemed to be getting closer and closer to him. No, that wasn't quite right. His mindless steps were making him closer and closer to _it. _

Identifying the sound as one of a small child, Sasuke was quick to put on his rescuer hat and go try to save the day. Following the sound of the kid's crying lead him to a well. It was deep in the forest, and there was absolutely no logical way that a child could have ended up in it without being put there.

"Please help me!" The kid cried out, "I just want to go home! Please! My legs are broken! I've been down here all morning and all of last night! I don't care if I have to get on the boat, but don't let me die here! My mother wouldn't understand! She'd-"

"Okay, okay. I'm not gonna let you just die in a well! Calm down!"

Sasuke figured that at least to this kid, he was pretty much a mature adult. Clearly the kid felt the same way, because he was quick to shut up. Hmmm... A well? What do wells have that makes them good for something other than murdering young boys? Water- yes, but that wouldn't help. Oh! The bucket!

"If I lower the bucked down, are you small enough to put most of your body on it and let me haul you up?" Sasuke called down, unable to see the boy or determine his size.

"I-I think so," The child whimpered, even as Sasuke began to lower the bucket.

He pulled the boy up with such ease that even before he saw him he knew that the poor thing was severely malnourished. Oh, he was _so _right. The pitiful little creature looked awful, and as Sasuke carried him back to the gold house so that he could bandage his legs – all he talked about the whole way was how he did this to support his friend, but his friend was dead, and he'd been pushed in to the well, and blah blah blah – this is exactly why you're supposed to be eighteen!

The tough thing about living with girls is – they always love everything that is smaller than intended size. Especially babies and children. _Especially _human ones. Apparently Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were not immune to this foolishness.

As soon as he walked through the door with a kid in his arms, they pounced. Wanting to know who the kid was, where Sasuke had found him, why he'd brought him here, what was wrong with his legs, what could they do to help, etc, etc, etc.

The only question that Sasuke cared about the answer to was the boy's name, which was Ranmaru. Reluctantly, he also somehow learned that the friend he'd had who had died was named Raiga, but that Raiga wasn't the man who Sasuke had seen dead in front of the black house, because Raiga was (sob) strangled. Not (sob) shot.

Boys, unlike girls, pretty much always dislike other boys on some level. Especially getting pinned with responsibility for one. So, when the found out that Ranmaru's ankles were a twist and a sprain, not broken, and not anything that Sakura's two year nursing internship couldn't handle – the house had to have a bit of a disagreement.

The boys insisted that Ranmaru get back on the boat as planned, arguing that if they took in every castaway who they find on the island, they'd all be together in one house and no one would win much. The girls of course pulled their puppy dog faces and argued that it's just one _little _guy, and he'd promised to give them his share of the money anyway, just for fixing his ankle, so of course he should be able to stay!

_Yeah. Right. Until we find out that he's a sixty year old midget who can only afford illusive child-like plastic surgery because he's won the game already by playing this trick on people and killing them in their sleep. _

Sasuke proudly voiced his inner cynicism.

The girls were quite displeased.

It was, somehow – with much whining and promises of good behavior for ever and ever – decided that each person would be allotted _one _guest. Ino jumped at the chance to take on Ranmaru, just barely beating Sakura to the punch.

It seemed fair enough to Sasuke, perhaps. One guest to a person. The guest has to stay in your room whenever you're not with them, and if either of you misbehave, we kill both of you. Sounded about right.

By the time nightfall came around, they were all content with this new mutual choice. It seemed, that even at a time as chaotic as this, nothing could go right.

Until the frantic banging on the door.

**A/N: Sorry this is short. You cannot begin to imagine the week I've had. **

**Please review. **

**I love you for reading. **

**-Beloved**


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